Hi Everyone!
A new study on Concussions funded by the National Institutes of Health & conducted at the Mind Research Network suggests even though symptoms may clear at about 2 weeks post injury, the brain is still having difficulties 4 months later. More studies have to be done to see how much further after injury the brain has still not fully recovered. This not only supports the previous research we discussed in class on why repetitive concussions, even minor ones, have cumulative devastating effects, but would support postponing returning to playing sports.
The study used a new imaging method called Tensor Diffusion (see description of imaging by pictures) This type of brain scan is not a standard method used and does suggest this might be something needed in the future. This imaging technique was used in a study in 2008 on soldiers with mild Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI) from IED blasts and falls related to the blast. In this study they found one third of the soldiers who had been cleared of their injury through using traditional brain imaging, still showed clear brain abnormalities even 12 months later. Again, this raises concern on clearing soldiers and placing them back in action when their brain is still affected and how current brain imaging techniques used may be inaccurate.
